Computational Anthropology and Exploring Identity through Artificial Synthesis

A series of personal reflections while using A.I. image generation

Grid of predominately Black women, all except for me having been artificially synthesized.

About a month ago, I was purely terrified in learning about this relatively recent wave of hyper/photorealistic AI generated imagery through text prompts. And especially so when I learned of frameworks that could allow anyone to use anyone’s personal identity and both reimagine and decontextualize them by using a prompt of a few words. These days, while I’m remaining cautious and diligent in exploring ways AI image/and-other-media generation can be safely implemented, I’m also finding myself fascinated with the ways I can reimagine my own identity. Here’s the tale of this emotional rollercoaster; my concerns and also my excitement.

I started my AI image explorations with MidJourney. I used this tool to playfully reimagine the identities of celebrities. My prompts included, “Diana Ross in decadent art nouveau advertisement for Fanta soda,” “Malcolm X as Drake in the Nothing Was the Same album cover,”
“Megan Thee Stallion as Mona Lisa in the style of Basquiat,” “Obama in an Adidas tracksuit with an afro in pop art style”, “Sade in a Hype Williams music video,” “Lenny Kravitz in a 1960’s Havana Cuba poster,” “Frederick Douglass taking a selfie for Instagram,” and “Rihanna for President”